Berlin

Berlin has been the first city I explored on my own and it’s been an interesting experience. I chose to stay in Friedrichshain slightly out of the centre of town, and in the former Eastern part of Berlin. There’s a lot about the area that felt like Newtown in Sydney, very diverse, a little bit scrappy but it was easy to find my way around from.

I walked. Everywhere. From the first evening when I walked down to the river to check out the Oberbaum Bridge (enlarge the photo for the questionable art installation/performance in front of it) and the East Side Gallery to a 4 hour walking tour of Berlin’s highlights I ended the day footsore and happy to have seen as much as I did in so short a time.

It’s a city with a long and fascinating history.

And questionable weather as you can see from the pics.

The East German Ampelmännchen (traffic light men)

Oberbaum Bridge it links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, former boroughs that were divided by the Berlin Wall

Neue Wache (translation New Guardhouse) a memorial to all victims of war and tyrrany

After German reunification, the Neue Wache was again rededicated in 1993, as the “Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship.” At the personal suggestion of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the GDR memorial piece was removed and replaced by an enlarged version of Käthe Kollwitz’s sculpture Mother with her Dead Son. The pietà-style sculpture is directly placed under the oculus, and so is exposed to the rain, snow and cold of the Berlin climate, symbolizing the suffering of civilians during World War II.

Neue Wache

Entrance of Unter den Linden Equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia

Humboldt University bordering Babelplatz – site of the one of the infamous Nazi book burnings

Humboldt University

A memorial to the Nazi book burning by Micha Ullman set into the Bebelplatz.

St Hedwig’s Cathedral, Babelplatz

Random Street Scene, Berlin

Französischer Dom (French Cathedral) 1701 to 1705 for the Huguenot (Calvinist) population

The Opera House on Gendarmenmarkt between the French and German Churches

Deutscher Dom (German Church) or The Neue Kirche (English: New Church

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie

Random Berlin Wall

Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus – Houses the Bundesministerium der Finanzen once the largest office complex in Europe

Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus – Houses the Bundesministerium der Finanzen

Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus – Houses the Bundesministerium der Finanzen

Max Lingner GDR era mural inside the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus

Max Lingner GDR era mural

Max Lingner GDR era mural

Max Lingner GDR era mural

Max Lingner GDR era mural

Monument to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany

Monument to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany

Sculpture of Georg Elser Hitler’s lone would be assassin

Fuhrerbunker Site – so well build multiple attempts to destroy the bunker failed so it was filled in and is now parked on

Fuhrerbunker Site – so well build multiple attempts to destroy the bunker failed so it was filled in and is now parked on

Sobering Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Brandenburg Gate shrouded for the main event of the European Cup Soccer